CleanTechies Podcast

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition. Today, we are talking to Sudhu Arumugam of CYNKIn this episode, some of the biggest ideas we discuss are:* Evolution and Importance of Carbon Markets: Discussion on how the carbon markets have evolved over the years, especially the increased emphasis on the social impact of carbon credits.* Role of Blockchain Technology in Carbon Markets: Exploring the need for blockchain technology in carbon markets for transparency and trust and how it improves data management and verification.* Challenges and Opportunities in the African Carbon Market: Insights into the specific challenges and opportunities in the African voluntary carbon markets and how CYNK is addressing these.* Impact of CYNK and Its Market Approach: Understanding the impact of CYNK’s blockchain-tied marketplace in the carbon market, particularly regarding connectivity, transparency, and supporting local communities.* Retail Investors in Carbon Markets as a Catalyzing Event: Discussion on the future of carbon markets, including the potential for increased retail investor involvement and the overall market growth projections.📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack ChannelThe Guest: Sudhu Arumugam* Sudhu Arumugam is the Co-Founder and CEO of CYNK.* He has over 20 years of experience in various trading and risk management roles across fixed income, equity, exotic derivatives, commodities, and, more recently, crypto markets in Europe and Asia.* Before starting CYNK, Sudhu Co-Founded CoinFLEX. Before that, he was the Head of Risk at Coinfloor UK, the UK’s oldest and largest crypto exchange. In addition, he served as Partner and Head of Trading at Cusaru Capital, managing portfolio hedging across different financial instruments.The Company: CYNKCarbon Markets, Blockchain, Transparency, Carbon Credits, One-liner: Increasing transparency in the Carbon Markets and creating access for retail investors. CYNK is a blockchain-tied marketplace for carbon credits. They help maxime revenues and secure early-stage financing for carbon capture projects, particularly in African carbon markets through transparency, connectivity, and proprietary climate technology.They achieve this through use of blockchain-tied marketplace carbon credits, thus addressing the recent transparency issues in the carbon markets. Through providing this transparency, they believe it will help catalyze retail investors to get into the carbon markets, which they believe to be critical to the long-term success of carbon markets. Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing! 📝 Show Notes:Topics* 1:40 Intro to Sudhu* 5:00 Importance of blockchain in the carbon markets and how it works* 6:05 The Data Behind Carbon Credits and How That Affects the Price* 7:45 Technology: Carbon → Blockchain * 8:40 Who their Customers are* 10:00 Growing the TAM Requires Transparency* 13:00 Pricing Carbon* 14:20 Attitude Towards Buying Carbon in Your Geography* 17:45 Retail Investors Will Catalyze the Carbon Markets* 20:30 How They Got Their First Customer* 22:10 Merging Carbon and Blockchain Cultures* 24:30 Interacting with Scientists * 27:00 Their Next Challenges * 27:50 Advice on Building in Carbon Markets Space* 30:00 Closing ThoughtsLinks* Connect with Sudhu | CYNK Website* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* Check out our sponsor, NextWave Partners, for all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.🗓️ Upcoming EventsReminder 🔔 that we have another CleanTechies in-person networking event on January 11th Contact Somil or Silas on LinkedIn to be included and receive details on the location.🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors, NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see you all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter… Podcast Collision Edition?Today we are speaking with Ryan Grant Little; Investor, Consultant, Founder, and Creator of Another Climate Tech Podcast. Given that Ryan is also a podcaster, we did something a bit different and decided to interview each other. Today’s discussion covers…* The reasoning behind our podcasts and the format of each * This offered us the chance to talk about the story behind Somil & Silas collaborating on this * We had a pretty interesting discussion about how to decide what not to work on * How networking has been commercialized to an extent * Then we closed off with the areas we are most bullish on and what we think will drive that change 🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack ChannelThe Guest: Ryan Grant LittleRyan, originally from Canada 🇨🇦, started his journey to climate by creating CanadaHelps, Canada’s first internet-based charity. From there he built a biogas company which he later exited from. This all stemmed from his fears of climate change as a child learning about the ozone crisis. Once he started investing with his winnings, he decided that all his profits would be used to make a positive impact on the climate. Fast forward today, he’s a man of many hats. Angel investing in Climate Startups, advising accelerators and startups, speaking, and our personal favorite, running Another Climate Tech Podcast. The Podcast: Throughout all the work Ryan was doing, he often had the desire to share the conversations he was having with professionals in the space. Knowing there were already a good number of podcasts in the climate space, he cheekily named it Another Climate Tech Podcast. Since the summer of 2023 he’s been putting out impactful and punchy episodes covering specific topics in the Climate space. Given his work, he has a large following in Europe. Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing!📝 Show Notes:💭 Topics* 2:30 Intro * 6:00 About Our Podcast Formats* 10:50 Why the Newsletter* 12:50 Why Somil & Silas Decided to Collab* 15:10 What Silas & Somil Do* 16:30 Ryan’s Climate Journey* 20:20 How to Decide What Not to Do* 23:30 Human Connection + Scaling Relationships* 36:00 Areas We Are Bullish On * 45:30 Regulation vs Market Forces* Regulation vs Market Forces🔗 Links* Listen to Another Climate Tech Podcast on:* Apple Podcasts* Spotify * Connect with Ryan Grant Little on LinkedIn* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in and see you all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, VC edition.Today, we are talking to Chris Richardson of Uptake Alliance & ADL Ventures.In this episode, you will find:* Investing in electrification and clean infrastructure* The success story of Mainspring Energy demonstrates the importance of starting small and scaling based on customer needs* Corporate pilots facing challenges in finding the right fit and aligning with startups in Uptake Alliance🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack ChannelThe Guest: Chris RichardsonUptake Alliance is a global venture development program that connects organizations with technical challenges to startups with novel solutions — creating a regenerative impact on business performance, technology scaling, and our shared climate future. Uptake is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and powered by ADL Ventures.The Program: Uptake AllianceUptake Alliance is a global venture development program that connects organizations with technical challenges to startups with novel solutions — creating a regenerative impact on business performance, technology scaling, and our shared climate future. Uptake is supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and powered by ADL Ventures.The “VC”: ADL VenturesADL Ventures develops and launches clean infrastructure innovations. ADL helps energy & infrastructure companies Assess, Develop and Launch new products, services and startups — and we lead innovation programs sponsored by DOE, NREL, and more. Every member of the ADL team has start-up and/or venture fund experience AND knows “what good looks like” at scale through work at successful corporate entities.Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing!📝 Show Notes:💭 Topics* 00:00 Introduction and Background* 08:07 EV Button and Electrifying Existing Infrastructure* 17:28 Uptake Alliance and Venture Development* 38:34 Clean Infrastructure and the Built Environment* 44:48 Moonshot Technologies and Innovation* 49:17 Incentivizing Domestic Economic Benefits* 51:41 Investing in Urban vs Rural Technologies* 59:33 Insights* 59:33 IRA* 01:02:13 Climate x XI* 01:06:15 Success Story of a Hardware MVP* 01:10:19 Challenges in Corporate Pilots* 01:13:48 Starting a New Company in Climate* 01:16:11 Advice for Applicants🔗 Links* GUEST: Chris Richardson* COMPANY: Uptake Alliance, ADL Ventures* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in and see you all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition. Today, we are talking to Dan Katz of Orbital Sidekick.In this episode, you will find:* How Dan and his co-founder, Tushar decided to build a satellite company to help stop climate change.* Learn how they started with a business model first, found PMF, built an MVP, went to market, and raised their funding. * Dan’s advice on talent and the speed of hiring. 📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack ChannelThe Guest: Dan Katz* Dan started his career in the aerospace industry building satellites for other organizations.* In the wake of the frothy space exploration market, Dan and his colleague believed they could also build a company in this space. This paired with their realization that the ocean was boiling, led them to focus on catching methane leaks. So they started Orbital Sidekick in Dan’s garage. * Today they have several satellites in the air and paying customers. The Company: Orbital SidekickClimate Data, Monitoring, Minerals, Hardware One-liner: Persistent, global monitoring to identify and stop GHG emissions. Orbital Sidekick, builds and launches hyperspectral satellites that have a variety of climate uses. A hyperspectral satellite is able to see in much greater detail and different reflections of light to use it to identify more than just objects. Their first usecase, which Dan explains the rationale for in the episode, is to monitor pipelines to idenitfy methane leaks. In the future, they hope to identify geographies with critical minerals beneath the surface. Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing! 📝 Show Notes:Topics* 2:00 Intro to Dan* 5:45 How to Identify Subsurface Minerals* 12:00 Why he Became an Entrepreneur* 19:00 PMF & MVP* 22:00 GTM & Raising* 26:00 Watching Their Launch* 31:15 Challenges* 35:34 Talent * 39:00 Take the LeapLinks* Connect with Dan | Orbital Sidekick* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.🗓️ Upcoming EventsUPDATE! 🚨 Reminder 🔔 that we have another CleanTechies in-person networking event on December 15th!! (The date changed) Reach out to Somil or Silas on LinkedIn to be included and receive details on the location.🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in and see you all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, VC edition.Today, we are talking to Jamil Wyne of Climate Tech Bootcamp & Riffle Ventures.In this episode, you will find:* Why direct access to customers and revenue generation are crucial for success in the climate tech space* How Jamil shaped Climate Tech Bootcamp with individuals with deep subject matter expertise and a builder's mindset* A walkthrough of his leading report “The Climate Tech Opportunity” published by the Oxford Climate Tech Initiative🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack ChannelThe Guest: Jamil Wyne* Jamil has MANY different involves that put him in 4 different roles: * Investor: Running Riffle Ventures and investing personally in a number of climate startups* Academic: Lecturing at George Washington University and lead of the Climate Tech Opportunity at Oxford Climate Tech Initiative* Policy Advisor: Advisory roles at UNICEF, The World Bank, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and more* Ecosystem Builder: Founding Climate Tech BootcampThe VC: Riffle VenturesRiffle Ventures is an impact engine that unlocks climate innovation to solve meaningful problems. They are a collective of mission-driven builders, educators, investors, and designers. Through our Climate Ecosystem Design and advisory services, we co-create with various stakeholders in three key areas: education, program design, and venture creation. Their vision is to catalyze and build ventures focused on creating a more resilient, equitable, and just world.The Company: Climate Tech BootcampThe Climate Tech Bootcamp supports climate entrepreneurs from around the world by providing accessto expert-led training, mentors, and a like-minded community of peers dedicated to tackling thepressing issues of climate change.Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing!📝 Show Notes:💭 Topics* 1:16 Intro* 10:36 Policy-oriented mindset in climate* 16:27 Parallels between developmental finance and climate investing* 29:24 Origins of CT Bootcamp* 36:58 Choosing Climate experts and filling in founders’ weaknesses* 54:12 What is Riffle Ventures* 59:55 How he thinks about COP 28 being in Dubai and concerns with O&G* 1:08:41 The Climate Tech Opportunity* 1:08:41 Energy* 1:10:00 Transportation* 1:11:31 Food & Ag* 1:12:47 Industry* 1:15:43 Built Environment* 1:17:49 GHG Capture* 1:20:16 Managing & Reporting* 1:23:01 Advice to VCs🔗 Links* GUEST: Jamil Wyne* COMPANY: Riffle Ventures, Climate Tech Bootcamp* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.🗓️ Upcoming EventsReminder 🔔 that we have another CleanTechies in-person networking event on December 14th!!Reach out to Somil or Silas on LinkedIn to be included and receive details on the location.🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in and see you all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition. Today, we are talking to Pawel Ciesielski of Maas Loop.In this episode, you will find:* How Pawel makes reverse vending machines to help reduce the cost of collecting recycling bottles* Understanding regulation’s correlation with future demand and why their technology is seeing solid adoption* The importance of traction and paying customers to run a successful fundraising process📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack ChannelThe Guest: Paweł Ciesielski* Paweł started his career in a branding agency in Poland.* In this role, he spent most of his time predicting trends and demonstrating what the world could look like in 20 years, with a special focus on climate. Eventually, he started his own branding agency doing the same thing.* Having this interest in climate led him and his two long-time friends to start a business that would help with recycling glass bottles as their initial offering but with a broader goal to help create a blueprint for people to set up their own recycling plants. The Company: Maas LoopCircular Economy, Waste Management, Hardware One-liner: Helping divert waste from landfills & helping small businesses reduce the costs of and manage their bottle deposit return schemes while retaining customers.MaaS Loop builds reverse vending machines that identify the input through computer vision, accept, crush, and pay the depositor. These reverse vending machines help small businesses collect recyclables and retain customers. In Europe, there is a deposit charge on each bottle to encourage consumers to return them. The problem for business that want to use them is they either need a large and expensive piece of equipment or you need to hire extra staff to handle collection. MaaS Loop’s machines help solve all of this by offering a small footprint machine and offering a hardware-as-a-service model to reduce upfront CapEx.Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing! 📝 Show Notes:💭 Topics* 3:20 Intro to Paweł & MaaS Loop* 4:20 What part of the waste supply chain they are working in * 5:30 What reverse vending machines do* 7:15 Founding MaaS Loop* 10:00 How they differentiate from the rest of the circular economy * 13:40 Explaining the cost savings* 18:40 How the technology works* 19:35 Creating their MVP* 23:50 Defining traction* 26:45 How they determined PMF* 30:00 Advice on raising $$$* 32:35 Overcoming the production scaling up challenge 🔗 Links* GUEST: Paweł Ciesielski* COMPANY: maasloop.com* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.🗓️ Upcoming EventsReminder 🔔 that we have another CleanTechies in-person networking event on December 14th!! Reach out to Somil or Silas on LinkedIn to be included and receive details on the location.🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in and see you all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition. Today we are talking about the Recommerce.Again, let us know if you want to see anything in particular in these longer-form write-ups as we are still iterating. Let’s get into it.What you’ll find in today’s PodLetter…* Diverting Hardware from Landfills to In-Need Organizations* Complex Logistics as a Moat* Bootstrapping 🥾* The Rigatoni List 🍝* Advice to Founders: * Talk to Lots of People and Make Your Own Thoughts* Show Notes* Carveouts📺 Watch on YouTube🍎 Apple Podcasts 🎧 Spotify🗣️ Join the Slack Channel💡 Diverting Hardware from Landfills to In-Need Organizations As the tech boom and PC revolution took off, not much attention was given to the end of life for all this hardware. In many cases, companies were having their interns take a hammer to their hard drives and other devices. Hardware that still had life left. Frustrated by bureaucracy and slow-moving corporate jobs, John Fazzolari and Anthony Serina decided to do their own thing. They eventually stumbled on this repurposing hardware industry. At the time, it was totally novel. They were able to get solid traction quickly because tech companies, being innovative, also saw the hammer solution as wasteful. Fast-forward 10 years, they have been serving customers for a long time, have learned a lot, and are now considered to have been “In Climate before it was cool”. To them, they were just working on something they saw in need of a solution and trying to make a positive impact on the world. Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing if have not already. We also always appreciate a share. 📩Complex Logistics as a MoatRevivn uses logistics as a moat to defend its business from others by making it difficult for competitors to replicate their complex and efficient systems. Revivn has spent years developing its logistics network, which includes relationships with a variety of partners, such as trucking companies, warehouses, and recyclers. This network allows Revivn to collect, transport, and process electronic waste quickly and efficiently. It would be very difficult for a new company to replicate this network, giving Revivn a significant competitive advantage.Part of their moat is the amount of data they have compared to anyone who would enter the market today. Some of this data is tracked and analyzed but a lot is also in the experience of the team themselves. This should serve as a reminder to founders that in many cases, patience and pure persistence can be a moat factor. Of course, if you’re pursuing this route, you may need to reconsider taking on Venture funding as they don’t exactly have the patience for that. In addition to this, they have a highly scalable setup. Due to relationship building, a strong track record, and maniacal attention to the customer experience their partners provide, they have the ability to easily add new partners and locations to their network, which allows them to grow their business quickly. This scalability makes it difficult for competitors to keep up with Revivn.So, if you're thinking of competing with Revivn, think again. Their logistics moat is deeper than the Mariana Trench and harder to cross than the Swiss Alps. However, you too could learn from this and approach your startup in the same way. Enjoying the PodLetter? Share it with a few friends who are working in a similar space ⏩Bootstrapping 🥾When we talk about the moat of time + relationships + good customer experience, none of this is possible without one special ingredient. That is one that has become sexy lately, but in many cases, is totally impractical — yep, the dirty ‘b word’ … Bootstrapping. Given they were working on hardware at a time when it was super popular as a VC investment (not) they were forced to bootstrap. The benefits to bootstrapping were they were able to focus on building a good business and were able to take their time doing it. It also forced them to focus on profitability early. There are downsides to this as well. Mainly the difficulty of it. There is no cushion and you need to make it work. John’s sentiment was summarized when he referenced the recent Acquired interview with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. The pain and suffering of building a company is already hard enough, much more so when you bootstrap. So, for founders in the early days, consider the benefits and difficulties of bootstrapping. Keep in mind again, that not all Climate businesses need to be venture funded. An argument can be made that if you don’t need venture dollars, you should leave them for the firms that do. If you are going to raise, John says to only raise as much as you absotlutely need to in order to hit your next milestone. If you’re raising in an up market, you may struggle the next round and have to get repriced. “…you really want to raise as little as possible to hit the next milestone so that you stay profitable or force yourself to get to profitability and then find product market fit. Because if you can do that a little bit at a time, then you can still control your own destiny and have optionality. …over the past few years… a lot of companies raise that valuations that unfortunately they will never grow into.”🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.The Rigatoni List 🍝In addition to operational complexity, a key part of their success is relationships and hiring. John cares deeply about the customer experience and ensures that their partners do as well. If an individual in the team of one of their partners is not upholding their values, they make sure to get them switched out quickly. This focus on experience really stems from the value he puts on connection. This also bleeds into hiring. John has something he calls the Rigatoni list. This is a list of cool people and it’s dynamic. There are people who he’s only spoken with once, people who he catches up with every couple of months, and he keeps it fresh. This ends up helping with hiring because when the time comes, he may have a well-established connection with the right person for the job. By not focusing only on transactional interactions and spending time with people in the context of long-term relationships, he’s building a lot of goodwill. While this may seem quite simple, it’s also a widely overlooked aspect of building a good business (startup or otherwise). 🚀 Advice to FoundersTalk to Lots of People and Make Your Own ThoughtsOne of John’s main pieces of advice was to develop your own thoughts through a higher volume of conversations. If you speak with a lot of people on a variety of topics, it will help you form your own perspective as long as you’re willing to spend a bit of time thinking. This is important because without this we can easily fall into group think. Being able to think independently, and therefore out of the box, is an important skill for building a startup. 📝 Show Notes:Topics* 2:20 Intro to John* 3:00 Why the un-used hardware space* 4:05 Creating the Category * 6:05 The Story of How They Built* 7:35 How they work* 9:10 Cost Savings * 12:20 Logistics - Their Moat is Complex Coordination* 14:45 How to scale logistics company business * 16:10 How to control customer quality experience * 18:45 Examples of their impact* 22:00 Why they bootstrapped * 23:55 Advice on Fundraising * 27:10 Advice on Hiring | The Rigatoni List * 30:00 How to understand if someone has potential * 31:58 Advice to Young Entrepreneurs in Climate* 34:38 Other Ideas Links* Connect with John* Revivn.com * For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas🚨 Carveouts:SomilThis week, I had the opportunity to attend a panel in NYC hosted by SOSV program IndieBio about the Climate Capital Stack. A huge shoutout to them and Climate Hack for putting on a great panel bringing VC, green banks, and founders all in one room to provide a range of necessary perspectives.At this panel, although it was a niche topic, there were still many people there who were looking to get into climate and wanting to learn more about the space and how they could potentially transition one day. This made majority of the conversations at the networking portion were about how I found myself getting into climate, rather than discussing the topics discussed at the panel. These conversations are still great and can still lead to serendipitous connections, but it lacked digestion of the material discussed — which was fantastic btw.This made me think about how if we or others put on an event 😉, some guided networking/discussion for the audience could be useful after the panel to make sure that connections are being made not only naturally but over the content discussed. That would greatly amplify the learning opportunity. SilasThere have been two items that have come up in conversations lately that I wanted to share. * The ‘ew don’t touch Oil & Gas’ mentality mostly exists among software climate companies. I made a post about this on LinkedIn, and a pretty good amount of engagement ensued. My takeaway is still, we need to include the oil and gas companies in the journey of solving climate change. Will they likely continue operating for a while yes, but it isn’t reasonable to expect them to turn off the tap abruptly. If we don’t eventually show them that the green future is not just greener for the environment but also for their wallets, we will end up having a long, drawn-out battle where stones are hurled and the crux of the problem will not be solved. Let’s work together in a way that does not incentivize long term usage of oil. The dollars from oil into climate are all very helpful, and so are those pilot projects. * There is an emerging focus on companies that are collecting climate data that is not currently available elsewhere. There will be some BIG winners in this space over the next few years. The investments will happen likely within the next 3-5 months but in ~3-5 years watch this space. One final carveout I wanted to make is for the IDIC (Industrial Decarbonization Innovation Challenge) hosted by Centrepolis Accelerator. They are an amazing set of accelerators working on Industry 4.0. They have incredible partners and will invest money into some winners.The deadline was extended to December 8th so if you’re a hardware climate founder, apply today! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, VC edition. Today we are talking about the Climate Capital Stack.We are keen to get your thoughts on this new format so let us know if you want to see anything in particular in these longer-form write-ups.Let’s get into it.What you’ll find in today’s PodLetter…* “Design for Finance” & Climate Capital Stack* Bad Investing Signals and the Difficulty with Voluntary Carbon Markets* Need for Transparency in Oil & Gas (O&G)* From Local Policy to Global Challenges* The (Hardware) Goal is Off-Balance Sheet Leasing* Different Types of FOAKs in Hardware* The Escalator of Impact and Scale* Insights* IRA* Climate x AI* Creating a Hardware MVP* What Shaun Would Build Today If He Was a Founder* Advice to Founders* Advice to VCs* Show Notes* Carveouts💡 “Design for Finance” & Climate Capital StackNYCW was a pivotal moment for many of us current or aspiring climate professionals. It brought together large swaths of diverse talent all working in different assets to solve the climate crisis. Many of these gatherings were headlined by some of the smartest minds in climate and climate tech. An implicit goal we’ve had at the CleanTechies Podcast since then is to have as many speakers from the week as we can.I’m excited to introduce the speaker of one of the most popular talks at NYCW and Managing Partner of Third Sphere VC, Shaun Abrahamson. Shaun is an early-stage investor in the climate sector with a background in engineering and over a decade of focus on early-stage climate investments. Shaun’s engineering mindset involves constructing narratives with numbers and employing simple models to assess the viability of proposed ideas but combines that with the perspectives of advertising professionals, emphasizing the importance of understanding human behavior — a facet engineers might overlook. Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing if have not already. We also always appreciate a share. 📩Bad Investing Signals and the Difficulty with Voluntary Carbon MarketsVC can be a “herd-mentality” business, in which experienced investors like Shaun can rise above bad investment “signals” — precursors for a potential investment. Bad signals were present with voluntary carbon markets where the need for carbon removal is apparent but there wasn’t a viable business model due to market flaws and incentives. Shaun personally had to communicate this skepticism to limited partners who were excited about carbon removal. Climate, in general, has very intricate customer signals — the struggle being how to differentiate between what people should do for climate and what they will actually do. Acknowledging realities, even if they are unpopular opinions, will form a more accurate understanding of the climate landscape. One interesting note was skeptics of the fossil fuel industry, given the industry's historical patterns of prioritizing power retention over genuine decarbonization efforts. Need for Transparency in Oil & Gas (O&G)The immense scale of resources spent by media and advertising to shape specific narratives about climate and industry can make it hard to see what is what. Shaun suggests engaging directly with customers as a reliable way to understand the ground truth — suggesting unconventional approaches like candid conversations where possible. Still, there is a need for transparency in the fossil fuel industry — greater explicit communication about the industry’s intentions for growth alongside climate considerations would help guide startup founders. An interesting note is the bias in reports from established groups like consulting firms that often cater to incumbents seeking reassurance rather than providing realistic scenarios for early-stage climate founders or funds. This gap is what has led to the rise of CTVC and other climate tech media groups (cough cough) seeking to distill relevant advice for climate founders.Enjoying the PodLetter? Share it with a few friends who are working in a similar space ⏩From Local Policy to Global ChallengesThird Sphere VC started 10 years ago with a narrower focus on local government policy, specifically looking at the C40 cities group and its climate scenarios and where investment could help in meeting those goals. The fund has always cared about both decarbonization and adaptation/resilience, challenging traditional assumptions like grid reliability. In general, they avoid grid and generation areas due to limited expertise and instead focus on sectors like decarbonizing buildings and transportation.The (Hardware) Goal is Off-Balance Sheet LeasingHardware has always been a tough sell for Shaun, especially in the early years. Investing in hardware still has its issues, but after a decade of investing, Shaun has insights that he uses to guide hardware starts like the development of a credit platform focused on off-balance sheet leasing. Shaun also stresses not reinventing the wheel and instead leveraging existing trends. He emphasizes that successful hardware companies often start by assembling components like "Lego pieces" rather than immediately delving into complex production and manufacturing. Different Types of FOAKs in HardwareThe first FOAK approach is what we mentioned before — assembling existing components in a novel way. The second, riskier approach involves investing significant capital to develop an entirely new product before generating revenue. Shaun prefers the former, emphasizing that climate investors should prioritize proven solutions over high-risk endeavors given the current level of skepticism. This is also informed by what Shaun calls an “extensive playbook over the last 30 to 40 years” for investments in hardware.Shaun recalls that companies often didn't raise more than $100 million before going public, which complicates how these FOAKs would raise capital and still be capable of venture-scale returns.. In preparation for the need for alternative financing methods, Shaun emphasizes the need to qualify market interest effectively. He stresses the importance of specific customer signals and the value of having customers commit with deposits or contracts rather than relying on vague interest or unpaid pilots. This can be through a techno-economic model where founders iteratively secure commitments to validate market interest. 🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.Escalator of Impact and ScaleIn his talk at NYCW, Shaun presented the "Escalator of Impact and Scale," a framework shown in his Design for Finance talk. The components include grants, venture capital, customers, partners, lenders, and off-balance sheet structures. He provides some takes on each component:* Grants: Hit or miss — some startups do well with them while others don't even apply; there are also lots of efforts to automate grant applications and grant writing* Venture Capital: Customer discovery is generally done well but there is room for improvement in getting more commitments from customers to get more VCs to invest* Partners: Corporate VCs, for example, are helpful not only in their capital but in their collaboration and implicit agreement to pilot/partner* Lenders: There has been more education in the post-Silicon Valley Bank era — founders are asking more questions about venture debt which is a necessary financing method for hardware* Off-balance Sheet: The term "off-balance sheet" can be misleading — it might be better framed as a distribution partnership; this financing method would be popular for private investors because it keeps the cap table cleanerThe least understood component is the off-balance sheet structure, but there is an ongoing effort to explain it more effectively. 📝 InsightsIRAIn the early stages of startups, policy may not have significant impact as policymakers aren’t very tuned into the specific challenges faced by early-stage founders. Rather, policy is viewed as a supportive force, providing a tailwind for faster scaling. However, policy is a factor bad noise to investment signals in climate — genuine demand is still necessary beyond beyond short-term cost advantages provided by new policy. Policy also becomes more relevant in underwriting considerations for specific industries, such as those eligible for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). Climate x AIAI streamlines business functions, such as grant and Request-for-Proposal (RFP) automation. In verticals like product design, AI's ability to enhance iterations increases the likelihood of cost-effective solutions, like more affordable heat pumps. Potentially my favorite point of the whole episode, AI plays a crucial role in automating tasks related to manufacturing, operations, inspections, and maintenance. The hardware superpower of generating proprietary data further strengthens AI applications, especially in areas like remote sensing and refining control systems for complex processes. The synergy of AI and hardware creates opportunities for a data moat against competitors.Creating a Hardware MVPDifferent types of hardware MVPs require unique financing. For high-volume, inexpensive items, there are options like crowdfunding, low-volume launches with suppliers or Amazon, and 3D printing. In the B2B realm, despite potentially larger products/order sizes, similar equivalents can be applied such as building a pipeline and shipping a 3D-printed version. The key is not to fall in love with the technology, be honest about customer needs, and navigate scaling challenges. Cashflow management involves pre-selling to generate revenue and establishing partnerships with supportive companies willing to contribute cash, provide loans, or be on the cap table. While some hardware ventures may succeed on a larger scale, there is a bias toward high-volume, low-cost products.What Shaun Would Build Today if He Was a FounderHe would build a company in the "climate defense" space, focusing on a full-service adaptation company, particularly for real estate. This would involve aspects like insurance, physical changes, and first responders. The rationale behind this choice lies in addressing the shifting risks associated with climate change, especially in safe asset classes like infrastructure and real estate. The recent adjustment in pricing by reinsurance companies to reflect changing risks creates a significant investment opportunity. 🚀 Advice to FoundersStress-test your co-founder relationshipsShaun emphasizes the importance of stress-testing relationships when forming a founding team. He shares an interesting example of two founders who, after meeting nine months ago, decided to artificially subject their relationship to stress. The idea is to create situations that mimic the challenges and pressures a startup environment might bring. The process was very fruitful and helped evaluate how the individuals responded when faced with difficulties. Ways of doing this early on include intentionally setting challenging deadlines or tasks to observe how individuals work together under pressure. All-In on Techno-Economic ModelsTechno-economic models are a growth hack, particularly in hardware startups. The key is to focus on models that allow the repetition of processes numerous times, ideally tens of thousands or more. He views techno-economic learning curves as a critical factor and describes them as the "network effect of hardware."To do this, founders must minimize soft costs and customization, instead choosing simplicity and ease of implementation. The goal is to reduce the need for on-site visits and streamline the delivery and setup process for scalability.🏦 Advice to VCsFind an Economic NarrativeShaun advises those interested in climate investing to align strategies with practical outcomes rather than focusing solely on idealistic climate-related goals. One way is to frame the investment narrative around the opportunity to rebuild a significant portion of the economy.Diverse Capital Attracts LPsShaun notes a shift in sentiment with LPs towards a more pragmatic approach and advises fund managers to explore opportunities beyond traditional venture capital. Underwriting for new assets is highlighted as potentially more interesting than early-stage venture capital.Be a Climate-Fund for a ReasonWhat advantages does a climate fund offer over top generalist funds? Identify and articulate these before becoming a climate-fund. If these don’t seem to hold up, reconsider how you plan to be competitive in climate. 📝 Show Notes:Topics* 4:10 Intro* 8:10 Balancing returns vs. impact* 11:36 Bad investment signals in climate* 20:59 What is Third Sphere* 27:47 Mistakes Hardware founders make* 31:39 Design for Finance* 49:46 Which climate capital stack segments are underutilized * 1:00:51 Insights* 1:03:45 IRA* 59:24 Climate x AI* 1:08:39 Hardware MVP* 1:14:15 Building a company right now* 1:17:47 Advice to founders* 1:23:25 Advice to VCsLinks* Connect with Shaun* Third Sphere VC* For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas🚨 Carveouts:SomilI want to take this carveout to thank all of our readers (especially the ones who made it this far, that is dedication and we appreciate you). We put lots of time and energy into figuring out how to use this platform as best we can and all of your support and engagement is literally what makes this possible. We are super excited to build a community and more content around the work we have done — we’re ending 2023 strong and so appreciate all of you for being there to witness it. Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart.— also taking this break to celebrate Thanksgiving with family 🦃🍁.SilasSimilar to Somil, I want to thank everyone for reading, sharing, and offering us feedback. In particular, I also want to thank Somil for joining this endeavor in the summer and really helping us expand this. If you have not connected with him yet on LinkedIn here is his link 🔗. These past ~2.5 years have been incredible being able to have so many incredible guests on to share the lessons they have learned by being early entrants into this Climate space. One final thing, if you’re interested in some IRL action, we are co-hosting another ClimateTechies event in NYC on the 2nd Thursday of each month (Dec 14th - Location: ~Union Square). Reach out to me directly if you’re interested in attending. Last month we had a really cool demo from the folks at CLIP. (If you want to demo your stuff, also LMK) — I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! 🧑‍🤝‍🧑🍁 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition. Today we are talking about recommerce. We are keen to get your thoughts on this new format so let us know if you want to see anything in particular in these longer-form write-ups. Let’s get into it. What you’ll find in today’s PodLetter…* Building an Impact-Focused AND Scalable Venture * Aligning Supply & Demand* Financial Incentives* Using Non-Impact-Focused VCs* Takeaways* Show Notes* Carveouts💡Building an Impact-Focused AND Scalable Venture A big part of solving the climate issue is reducing waste. Through speaking with our guest today, we learned that ~80% of products that get returned end up in the landfill 🤯. That blew my mind. Well, thankfully, our guest is helping solve that problem while also saving her clients up to 50% on their reverse supply chain costs (sending a good from customer to vendor). Our guest is CEO and Co-Founder of LiquiDonate, Diz Petit. She has had an inspiring journey as a social impact entrepreneur. Starting as the 15th employee at Postmates, she played a crucial role in building the operations and customer service teams. In this role, she eventually ended up leading the sustainability initiatives for Postmates after they were acquired by Uber. This experience in product management and her passion for social impact led her to co-found LiquiDonate with a former colleague. LiquiDonate is a software tech solution that enables businesses to donate excess inventory to nonprofits and schools around the world. This diverts the waste and saves the corporates money. To date, they have diverted 2,069,508 pounds of waste from landfills. 💪🌎Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing if you’re not already. We also always appreciate a share. 📩Aligning Supply & DemandWhen dealing with donating, the supply chain is incredibly complex given that although the products may be useful and in good condition, it can be hard to find the buyers for secondhand goods. A huge part of their success was working with all parties to manage the alignment of the demand with the supply. Enjoying the PodLetter? Share it with a few friends who are working in a similar space ⏩Financial IncentivesIt’s a theme that has come up many times in the show and is equally relevant here. While LiquiDonate is an impact company, they are able to get non-impact-focused companies to sign up with them because they are creating a financial incentive to divert waste. It’s become abundantly clear that in order to have a real shot at massive growth you need to build in these financial incentives to your climate companies. 🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.Using Non-Impact-Focused VCsThey intentionally raised from non-climate VCs to show that even though they are an impact-focused business, they are still a venture-scale company able to get conviction from traditional VCs. They wanted to show that this was not just some tree-hugger-only market (my words not hers). While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a Climate-venture backed by traditional VCs, it is rare for a founder to seek that out intentionally. This is something I think other climate founders should look to as an example. While having alignment is super important in raising, you also should think about the non-climate VCs that you could raise from. It is worth noting that this would be easier for software-related business like LiquiDonate compared to hardware.That’s all for the major notes today. Have been a bit short on time this week and wanted to spend more time with family during Turkey Week 🦃 - Silas✍️ Takeaways:Diz had some really great points and was really clear in her message which makes takeaways fun. Here are ours. * Spend a lot of time talking to the market. This might seem old hat, but it’s worth pointing out — the only way they were able to understand the needs of their clients and how the different components of the supply chain interacted with each other was to speak with their potential and existing customers to understand their pain points and needs. * Set the right metrics. When building an impact company, it is important to set metrics that help ensure you are actually making an impact. When deciding on those impacts, lean towards the ones that can more clearly be aligned with financial incentives.* Match Supply & Demand. As we learned, the key to success for LiquiDonate was matching the supply with the right demand. We can take this lesson forward to upcycling and recycling of materials. Identifying waste streams with the proper materials to act as feedstock for producers will be key. * Realistic TAM. Your TAM might actually be lower than you realize if you are only selling to impact-focused brands. If part of your sales process involves appealing to the altruistic and impact-focused aspect of your customers, you’ll have a fraction of the TAM as your realistic TAM. The takeaway here is to not limit yourself to only impact-motivated customers. Identify co-benefits that serve as financial incentives in order to prevent your TAM from being reduced.* Consider non-climate-VCs. As noted above, you should be building a business that, while measured on impact metrics internally, is not incapable of being funded by a traditional VC. Of course, you want to ensure that your VC will bring the right value, but don’t rule out traditional VCs. What they did with intentionally raising from a traditional VC is prove that their impact company was scalable and venture-backable. 📝 Show Notes:Topics* 2:33 Diz & Her Story* 6:25 Why Entrepreneurship?* 8:02 How to Identify the End User* 16:25 Why Would Someone Use Their Software?* 18:25 What CSOs Think About This* 21:45 Metrics* 25:36 Things that Surprised Her* 28:49 Their Fundraise Experience* 32:54 Advice to Founders Links* Connect with Diz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/disneypetit * LiquiDonate: https://liquidonate.com/ * For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas🚨 Carveouts:SilasOn Wednesday, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel at Columbia Business School to offer advice to MBA students on how to recruit for climate jobs. Two main things stood out to me:* There is still an underlying narrative that working in climate requires a person to be highly altruistic and set aside the objectives of making money. Many of the students expressed concern about working in climate for fear of taking a much lower salary and being unable to pay their school loans. This demonstrates the need for us to be shouting from the rooftops that… 📣 “The Climate Revolution will only be successful if we tie carbon reduction and financial success!!! !!!” - okay so maybe that’s a bit aggressive, but it’s true.If buyers, investors, talent, and regulators think that making REAL money in climate is not going to happen, we are going to be missing a huge portion of participants in this fight.* There is a lack of clarity and guidance for young talent to enter into climate. Many folks have very misguided assumptions about the space and how to land a role in the space. This tells me there is no real ecosystem set up to guide them through this journey.It’s my belief that the way to solve this issue is to have MANY more people sharing their journeys. At some point, someone will set up a really well-organized system for navigating the various areas and ecosystems inside of climate (and maybe they will find consensus on what ClimateTech really means). For now, it needs to be crowd-sourced.So, that’s my CTA for you - get out there and make some content about the niche you’re in and passionate about!SomilThis week, I had the chance to speak with a guest with significant developmental finance experience who now invests in climate. The developmental finance → climate finance pipeline is one that fascinates me. I want to use my carve-out to highlight the similarities and why we should spend time looking to successes in development finance as learnings from climate:* They share several similarities as they both aim to derisk the development of solutions that pure market forces have failed to support* Both fields also recognize the importance of committing financial resources to support long-term projects since many of these developments do not succeed in a VC-friendly timeline.* There is a shared need for innovative partnerships and policies given that the economics-of-scale for many of these technologies do not take effect unless a company has significant market share.* Developmental finance as stakeholders greatly resemble family offices and impact VCs — metrics used by both can be subjective to the causes these groups focus on. That can make having a general fundraising strategy difficult if you intend to be selective with the people you are trying to raise from.If you found this insightful, stay on the look-out for ep 138; more of this to come! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe

🌎 Welcome to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition… (did we just make a new category 🤯)As a recap, we are rolling out a new format for you with a written component to the podcast episode that is being shared. In addition, we have some carveouts at the bottom. What you’ll find in today’s PodLetter…* “Crowdfunding” Energy Development* A Financial Way to Protest* Community-Based Approach* From GoFundMe to GoFundMe Angel Check* Making Grants Easy (Kind of)* How You Can Get Involved* Takeaways* Show Notes* Carveouts💡”Crowdfunding” Energy Development Navigating how to scale existing climate technologies remains as muddled as ever. With the influx of VC dollars into the climate sector, many are wondering why we haven't seen a more rapid acceleration in the adoption of climate solutions. Enter our guest, Will Wiseman, the Co-Founder and CEO of Climatize, a revolutionary platform that is empowering community-driven solar projects to scale effectively.Climatize is a crowdfunding platform that enables anyone, from retail investors to qualified institutions, to invest in and support renewable energy projects in their communities. By democratizing access to renewable energy investments, Climatize is leveraging a growing trend of community-based approaches to fill the financing gap in particular for smaller ticket projects where large PE investors are not participating. To date, Climatize's efforts are already making an impact on the renewable energy landscape. The platform has successfully funded multiple community solar projects, generating clean energy and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. As Climatize continues to expand its reach, it is poised to play a pivotal role in scaling community solar projects and accelerating the transition to a sustainable future. Oh, and they have already distributed returns to their users. Enjoying the CleanTechies PodLetter? Please show your support by subscribing if you’re not already. We also always appreciate a share.A Financial Way to ProtestWill considers himself someone who has always been an environmentalist, and he experienced firsthand a large number of climate protests while living in Europe. This is when it hit him there must be something wrong if the apparent most effective thing these people could do was make a cardboard sign and protest. This started him down the path of building Climatize. Seeing this makes us wonder why there are not more accessible ways already, for the public at large to participate in the climate revolution without giving into the old O&G technique of shifting the responsibility to the consumer. There is likely an opportunity to take that general public sentiment and turn it into something more tangible. A potential opportunity there. Community-Based ApproachOne of Will’s observations is that the journey of an environmentalist can feel very isolated and lonely. A core vision for Climatize is creating a community around deploying capital for the average investor. They are exploring ways to help show who is invested in which projects so that you can get to know people who are interested in the same problems and alleviate that isolation. One thing we’ll be thinking about is how a platform like this can really help to influence those folks who are skeptical of renewables in a positive way. How could they be against it when they can see the financial returns of these projects in short periods of time?Enjoying the PodLetter? Share it with a few friends who are working in a similar space ⏩From GoFundMe to GoFundMe Angel CheckOnce he knew he wanted to build this product, they utilized existing technology to prove the need. (WHAT WERE THE EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES) This was especially important because their product is at the intersection of two highly regulated markets: (WHAT ARE THE REGULATED MARKETS). They first created a GoFundMe for a Kenyan solar project. This ended up catching the attention of the Co-Founder of GoFundMe, resulting in their first angel check. By doing something on a small scale, using existing technology, they were able to prove the customer demand for such a product, this helped in their next stage. It also served as an initial method of getting in front of the future customers of their own platform. 🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you. NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified. Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact. Making Grants Easy (Kind of)After getting this early traction, they then turned to grants. What worked for them in the grant application process was first having proved the need and concept on a small scale. This made it possible to talk about what the technology is, not what it will be. In addition, they were able to obtain pro-bono legal help to go through the regulatory process. It took them about 1 year of back and forth with paperwork to get things set up.These two zero-cost tools helped them to move one day closer to a full-fledged two-sided marketplace. You might consider these non-traditional means early on in your startup journey. How You Can Get InvolvedIf you are interested in learning more about Climatize, you can visit the company's website or download the app. You can also follow Climatize on social media for updates on the company's progress.✍️ Takeaways:There were a handful of good nuggets that Will shared as advice to founders. * Make it easy to use. If your user experience is not solid and your interface is not accessible and easy to understand, you are not going to get customers. Keep it simple and understandable for your users and you will experience growth. * Calculate the ROI of your fundraising process for a morale boost. Fundraising is hard and especially demotivating. When he started pitching for their equity raise, he often felt discouraged by the nos. Eventually, he realized it’s just a sales process and you don’t close everything. He did the math and realized that each conversation is worth about $4,000. So he began to see each one as $4,000. This helped him put things into perspective. This is perhaps our favorite piece of advice of his.* Hire “ready” talent early on. In the early days, they hired an army of interns and it was, in his words, a big mistake. In the end, he was spending a lot of time hand-holding. Hiring experienced talent would have saved him time and energy he could have devoted to growing the business. Ensure you are hiring talent that is “ready” to do the job on day one. * Co-founders SHOULD think differently. He stated the importance of having a Co-founder who does not think about everything the same way as you. There should be healthy debate and different viewpoints on a lot of things so that you challenge each others’ assumptions and come to a better product in the end. 📝 Show Notes:Topics* 2:26 His Career Journey* 6:42 How he Looks at Impact Work * 8:04 FinTech Founding as an Engineer* 13:13 Why PE Isn't Filling the Need* 16:40 How they "Pitch" to Consumers* 20:12 Hiring & Talent * 26:08 Building the Product* 28:26 Advice to Founders* 32:29 Future Challenges* 34:59 On Making it "Real" to Climate Deniers Links* Connect with Will * Climatize.Earth * For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners. * This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast. * Connect with Somil | Connect with SilasRandom Dots* Today’s episode is similar to what Kevin Kyer is doing at pyrpose.io only with a focus on the US market. * Some of the topics around how to ‘sell’ to consumers is reminiscent of the episode with Jeff Chapin from Haven Energy. Specifically on selling for the need not just selling on the ‘basis of solving climate change’. 🚨 Carveouts:SilasIt’s been a full week of content so I’ll keep this one short. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel at Columbia Business School to offer advice to MBA students on how to recruit for climate jobs. Two main things stood out to me and serve as my main takeaways. * There is still an underlying narrative that working in climate requires a person to be highly altruistic and set aside the objectives of making money. Many of the students expressed concern about working in climate for fear of taking a much lower salary and being unable to pay their school loans. This demonstrates the need for us to be shouting from the rooftops that… 📣 “The Climate Revolution will only be successful if we tie carbon reduction and financial success!!! !!!” - okay so maybe that’s a bit aggressive, but it’s true. If buyers, investors, talent, and regulators think that making REAL money in climate is not going to happen, we are going to be missing a huge portion of participants in this fight. * There is a lack of clarity and guidance for young talent to enter into climate. Many folks have very misguided assumptions about the space and how to land a role in the space. This tells me there is no real ecosystem set up to guide them through this journey.It’s my belief that the way to solve this issue is to have MANY more people sharing their journeys. At some point, someone will set up a really well-organized system for navigating the various areas and ecosystems inside of climate (and maybe they will find consensus on what ClimateTech really means), but for now, it needs to be crowd-sourced. If we are all picking a niche in the space and making our content for that space, we will see a lot of people learning how to navigate properly. So, that’s my CTA for you - get out there and make some content about the niche you’re in and passionate about! SomilThis week I started working on an investment thesis within a specific area of climate. While I can’t do into the details, it was a reminder of how complicated the investing game can be and how meticulously you have to diligence your hypothesis.For generalist investors or even industry-focused investors with broad industries, vetting a technology requires extensive outreach to one’s network. This reinforces the importance of networking.In today’s carve-outs, I’m walking through the 3 (non-investing related) areas that you should be building up your network if and when you decide to transition to climate investing:* Technology — whether it is hardware, software, deeptech, or some other type of innovation, there will be people who have built a somewhat similar technology even if in a different space and for a different application (think a robot that picks apples from orchards and a robot that automates an assembly line); having a good variety of technology innovation represented in your network can keep you versatile in a time where climate is all but just software* Policy — if you haven’t hard it already, the IRA is game changing for most climate companies; for that reason, getting connected with experts who are working with policy-aligned investors will go a long way in giving you someone to chat to when vetting whether a climate technology has a tailwind legislation* Science — climate has a lot of FOAKs that are both exciting in their potential but also necessary to verify to prove merit in; experts in specific areas of innovation will be able to guide you for which questions to ask and what research to conduct in order to verify the innovativeness of a new technologyThese are not simple nor entirely comprehensive, but most people I talk to usually are overly indexed in one of these and negligent of the other two. In climate, that is not an option. The best investors are pulling together different resources and areas of the capital stack to fund and support climate companies. Building up your network in this way over the long-term can prepare you to do the same. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe